Sehun usually prides himself on the fact that he has a sort of “inner alarm clock” that never fails to wake him up with exactly enough time for him to get ready for school.

But if there was ever a time when Sehun completely regretted this so-called “gift,” that time was now.

Because he could feel himself waking up when it was completely unnecessary. His mind was well aware of the fact that he basically had another hour to continue to revel in some of the best sleep he has (arguably) ever had, but his body was in full betrayal mode.

It seemed as if his entire being had become sensitized during that moment to the point where it felt like every higher power out there was trying to make him uncomfortable so that he would get up.

Some gift.

Everything was becoming more exaggerated. He was hyper aware of everything. His breathing, the constant yearn to flex his fingers, the slight weight of Mari’s head on his shoulder. That last one was the most torturous; he didn’t want to move for that sole reason alone. But it was getting so hard.

Sehun didn’t even realize at what point he and Mari had fallen asleep last night, or who had knocked out first. But he was beginning to wonder if he would’ve been more embarrassed about the entire situation had he been more awake.

He had fallen asleep in some kind of weird reclined seated position; one that would have been completely uncomfortable on any other couch had this one not been incredibly plush. Mari might’ve moved closer to him sometime during the night to keep warm, because she was nestled comfortably into his side, her head resting in the crook of his arm and shoulder. He hadn’t even noticed until now that the limb had become somewhat of a makeshift pillow for her head sometime during the night. Her chest was rising and falling with the slow breaths of a still deeply invested sleep, and were practically silent with every exhale. He didn’t blame her, though; he was still pretty tired himself.

But he hated to be the one to being reality rushing back with his inability to fall back asleep or control his misbehaving limbs. But Sehun was always punctual even when he didn’t want to be.

Either it was the fact that breathing normally was becoming progressively more difficult, or the now tense feeling in his muscles that led Mari to slowly come to; he wasn’t really too sure. But he was bracing himself for the awkward atmosphere that was probably about to ensue.

He nearly kicked himself for missing the warmth of her body next to his when she slowly rose to a sitting position on the couch, absentmindedly rubbing at her eyes tiredly.

She seemed to take in her surroundings for a moment (and Sehun hated to admit how adorably confused she looked at the moment, but she did and he couldn’t even lie to himself about it) before the realization seemed to hit her. Her confused gaze slowly shifted over to him, and he was hoping on every lucky star that he didn’t have some kind of stupid look on his face right about now.

She seemed to pale slightly before turning a bright pink, but she turned her head away before Sehun could come to consider that to be cute as well.

She coughed uncomfortably, trying to alleviate some of the awkward tension Sehun knew they were going to revert back to.

“How long have you been awake?” she asked quietly.

It dawned on Sehun that staring at someone while they slept wasn’t usually something people were comfortable with.

“Just a few minutes before you,” he lied smoothly.

If there was any doubt towards his answer, she didn’t vocalize them. She instead tried to create some distance between them again, which he wasn’t about to let happen.

His hand shot out to grab her wrist before his mind could even catch up with the action. Then again, his mind and body seemed to be beyond his control lately due to the effect that Mari had on him.

“Don’t…” he started, reacting purely on instinct rather than thinking this through, “don’t start avoiding me again. Please.”

The look of surprise on her face was evident, and Sehun felt really stupid for reacting like he did. But the moment her body seemed to relax under his hold, the feeling of humiliation dissipated.

“Sorry, it’s a…natural reaction,” she said, looking at him sheepishly.

“Don’t worry about it. Just be normal, like yesterday.”

Mari was at a loss for words. She never once thought that such a situation could turn out like it did. Though she knew they could never completely be normal. She wasn’t entirely sure what level they were on with each other now, but she was hoping that Sehun didn’t want to be just friends.

Because friends aren’t meant to love friends the way she loves Sehun. It just didn’t work that way. And if he was going to keep being so bold with his touches, and make her heart beat sporadically during multiple occasions, she wasn’t sure how long their “friendship” was going to last before she seriously cracked. 

But at the moment, she still had to reply to him, but her mind was failing to formulate some kind of answer.

So instead, she gave him a small smile, and hoped it was enough.

And enough it was. Because it had more of an effect on the boy than she probably realized. But Sehun was glad that they were somehow able to move past the tense atmosphere so easily, something that would’ve seemed impossible just a few weeks ago. They were finally becoming comfortable with each other, like friends. Though Sehun knew he couldn’t even describe their relationship as that of friends at this point. Because he knew there was more to them now. So much more.

The fact that he reciprocates a soft smile, and doesn’t even notice that his hand was slowly trailing down her wrist in search of her fingers, only proved that fact even more.

But before they could reach their destination, the sound of jingling keys startled them out of whatever trance they were in, causing them to jump away from each other.

Mari takes tentative steps towards the door while Sehun stays rooted in place, staring at his hand with a look of confusion once he realizes what was about to happen. He only acknowledges the third presence outside of the room when Mari speaks.

“Ahjusshi!” She says happily, slumping in relief.

“Oh my, where you in here all night?” came the gravely voice of the kindly old man, to which Mari sheepishly scratches the back of her head, and fibs that she had accidentally fallen asleep before lockdown last night.

Sehun hadn’t believed Mari to be that good of a liar before, but was glad that the old man seemed to buy her poor excuse, and he was extremely lucky that Mari was the only one that the man saw. He wasn’t about the let the man get any ideas about the two of them having been in the same room together last night.

The janitor tells Mari that she should see about getting some food from the cafeteria in case she happens to be hungry, to which the girl bows in thanks before he continues on his way of preparing the building for another day of school.

She sighs in satisfaction, happy to know that freedom was theirs once again.

“You don’t happen to be as hungry as I am, are you?” Mari asks.

Sehun was about to shrug with indifference before his stomach made a noise of protest, loudly reminding him of its long-term emptiness since yesterday afternoon.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” she chuckles, “I’ll go see about finding us some food.”

“Do you want me to come with you?”

She shakes her head, “don’t worry about it, I’ve put you through enough trouble already. I’ll be right back.”

Mari couldn’t tell him that as much as she would’ve liked to have him come along to keep her company, she needed some time alone to clear her mind, and get her heart beating at a healthy rate again. Though she knew that she was probably going to be seeing a lot of him much later. And truth be told, she was kind of anticipating it.

As soon as she left, Sehun was checking his phone for unread texts. He ignored the ones about Jongin asking him to help him with his math homework (which was really Kai’s way of asking if he would do his homework for him), and went right back to messaging Luhan.

I need one more favor and I’ll never ask anything of you again, he typed.

The reply was a bit delayed.

Do you know what time it is?

He looked at the time in the corner of the screen that read 7:55.

It’s time for you to get up anyway.

Well if you’re going to act like this then I guess you don’t need my help.

I still do.

No.

Please?

Nope.

It involves helping Mari.

Sehun could practically picture the way Luhan’s fingers hovered over they keyboard as he hesitated to reply.

…fine.

Sehun smirked in victory. After all, Mari was beginning to become one of Luhan’s weaknesses as well.

After reassuring Sehun that she would be back at lunch, they both went their separate ways.

Regardless of the fact that she and Sehun were almost more than comfortable with each other now, Mari still couldn’t sit still for most of the day since the thought that she was going to see him again soon was circulating in her head.

Her classes seemed to pass by in a blur since she was barely able to pay attention; the anticipation was overcoming her senses and drowning out the world around her. It was enough to keep her thoughts preoccupied, and distract her from the feeling of that same heated glare aimed at her back.

By the time the bell rang for lunch, she practically rushed out of the room; something she was never notorious for doing. It was hard not to up and sprint toward the art room, but she barely managed to get there in a normal fashion.

Sehun wasn’t there yet, as expected, since she had basically double-timed it all the way there.

She couldn’t wipe the stupid smile off her face when she heard the door clatter open behind her.

Though it immediately dropped off her face when Sun Hee was standing there practically seething in Sehun’s place.

She was without the aid of her lackeys this time, but her presence alone was enough to suddenly make Mari’s body freeze up in fear. She hadn’t even heard the girl’s footsteps behind her on the way here.

“Expecting someone else?” the girl stated rather than questioned, voice low with intimidation. Her entire being emitted a threatening aura, and Mari couldn’t even bring herself to move or put on a brave face.

Funny, she had never thought herself to be so afraid of the girl before. But at the moment, she felt incredibly threatened; like she was a mouse, and Sun Hee was the hungry cat about to tear her to shreds.

Though at the moment, she would have preferred that to the way the girl stomped over to her, grabbed a fistful of her hair, and yanked her forward. Mari had no choice but to comply with the forceful action, since any kind of resistance would be futile on her part. She had to bite down on her lip to prevent any kind of pained sound from passing through her lips; she wasn’t about to give Sun Hee that kind of satisfaction.

“Looks like you didn’t learn your lesson the first time!” she hissed, pulling Mari along without a bit of reluctance.

She threw the door open, making a noise of protest when she ran into a hard chest instead of walking into open hallway like she intended.

“Watch where you’re- Luhan Sunbae!” she yelped in surprise. Realizing who was blocking her path, she quickly let up on the harsh grip she had on Mari’s hair, pushing the girl backwards in hopes that she hadn’t been caught. But she was wrong.

So wrong.

Although Mari was thankful for the sudden appearance, she barely had time to rejoice before she braced herself, fully expecting to kiss the ground when Sun Hee made her lose her footing. But her back ended up hitting the body of the person behind her. The soft grip of hands catching her shoulders reassured her that it was Sehun.

She knew that touch fairly well by now.

“S-Sehun?” Sun Hee squeaked, her face visibly paling upon seeing that Luhan wasn’t alone. Her eyes only widened further when the boisterous voice of Chanyeol filled the tense silence in the hallway.

“Yaaaaahh, Mariii ~” he cooed, throwing an arm around the smaller girl’s shoulders, shoving Sehun back a bit in the process. “It’s been a while,” he stated, loudly projecting his excitement like an exuberant puppy.

He probably would have continued to speak if Baekhyun hadn’t come along to lightly kick him in the crease behind his knees, causing him to protest loudly as he crumbled over onto the ground.

“You’re too loud, idiot,” his friend said, although the words clearly lacked mal-intent. “Nice to see you again, Mari,” he offered afterwards with a smile.

And just like a chain reaction, the rest of Sehun’s friends seemed to follow behind them, as if the sudden gathering was almost intentional. Mari had to bite down a smile when she realized that it most likely was.

“Just for that, I deserve the couch by the window all to myself,” Chanyeol said, only to make another noise of protest when Baekhyun and a few others promptly denied that request. Their happy chatter started to fade the further they got into the art room, leaving a befuddled Sun Hee in the hallway to deal with the un-oblivious three.

“Care to explain something to us Sun Hee-sshi?” Luhan asked, polite as ever. Though his tone and smile seemed almost…eerie.

“I-I was just trying to…talk with her?” the girl tried, failing to convince anyone, including herself.

“It certainly didn’t seem that way to me,” Luhan said, acting perplexed. “Most people I know use words to make conversation.”

“Well that was just-”

“A form of harassment,” Sehun spoke, “Much like destroying a painting, or locking someone up at school overnight.”

The icy tone in his voice was enough to make Mari shiver even though the words weren’t even aimed at her. To some people, Sehun barely spoke, and if these were his first words to Sun Hee, there was no doubt in Mari’s mind that he probably seemed terrifying now.

“How did you…?”

“You might want to check and see if anyone’s around the next time you think about locking someone up in a public place,” Sehun put is simply, inwardly smirking when he saw the look of panic cross Sun Hee’s features as the realization dawned on her. Her face reddened afterwards, and whether it was from fluster or embarrassment, Sehun really didn’t care.

“I believe that makes three strikes. You’re out.” Luhan concluded, that creepily sweet smile never leaving his face.

Sun Hee looked between Sehun and Luhan with a look of disbelief, her eyes slowly filling up with tears when she understood that this was the first battle that she surely wasn’t going to win. With one last fleeting glare at Mari, the girl huffed in indignation before storming off down the hallway.

A moment of silence lingered as they watched her form get smaller in the distance, finally disappearing as she turned a corner at the end of the hallway.

“And with that problem taken care of, you now owe me twice as much~,” Luhan said in a singsong voice.

“But you did something anyone could have easily done!” Sehun deadpanned in an almost whiny fashion that Mari had never heard him use before (though she now realized why people assumed Sehun must’ve spoiled; anyone would seem spoiled with that kind of tone).

“Then maybe you should have thought to do it, genius,” Luhan said, ruffling Sehun’s hair and causing the younger male to make a sound of protest.

“I would’ve had to dumb myself down to come up with such a plan!”

“Keep telling yourself that, Sehunnie~” Luhan laughed, escaping into the clubroom full of people that would’ve witnessed whatever wrath Sehun was going to unleash on his hyung over the use of that stupid nick name. 

Sehun sighed, muttering an affectionate “idiot” under his breath with a small smile.

Although she found the scene to be quite touching (and fairly amusing), the lightheartedness of the previously tense moment did nothing to clear up any kind of confusion that she was feeling.

Owed him for what? She was about to ask Sehun, but she didn’t get the chance.

“Hey, someone come help me open up some of these windows! It smells like paint in here!” Chanyeol pleaded, too loud, as always.

She ends up concluding that it doesn’t even matter as Sehun leads her into the art room by the hand she hadn’t even realized he was holding.

...............................

GUYS IT’S BEEN A MONTH OR SOME SHIZZ OMG I AM SO SORRY. Seriously, how do people even balance college and writing at the same time??? It’s becoming increasingly difficult for me to even have free time to spend on a full-fledged story. And since this one is almost done, I want to start a new one (cause I’m a masochist) but like, I have no idea when I’m gonna find time to do it D:<

Either way, I hate that I made you guys wait for such a y chapter…but good news, the story is almost done (if I’m guessing right, there might only be two chapters left! Woot!)

Anyway, sorry for the wait, thanks for being patient!

And as always, thanks for reading! ;u;